Time Being by Ruth Bidgood

Inspired by the history and nature of the poet’s region of mid-Wales, this collection—recommended by the Poetry Book Society—communicates an established voice of distinction and quiet authority and symbolizes a writing career that spans five decades. Reviving both personal memories and knowledge of the stories associated with a place, these exploratory and discursive narratives hint at a subtle, conspiratorial edge. Avoiding sentimentality but not sentiment, these observations engender joy, sorrow, and fear uncluttered by irony, depicting nature as not always a benign presence but also often inescapably dark and mysterious. Largely concerned with the fragility of the environment, this compendium illustrates the vanishing countryside as well as how it affects the world in general. Transcending the lyric and moving towards a more epic, multifaceted form, this is a portrait equal to the many experiences of the author’s long life.